It may seem odd for me to use the blog this week to discuss the issue of research leave at a particularly busy part of the teaching year when research is furthest from many people’s minds, but a fascinating article in the Chronicle as well as developments in my own career made me think about it. If you’d like to read the full article, here it is!
Archive for September, 2008
Research leave: a difficult decision
Monday, September 29th, 2008The start of my second year!
Monday, September 22nd, 2008I can’t quite believe it myself, but I have held my first permanent job for exactly a year now! I suppose I feel a little bit like the returning second year undergraduates who this week are heading back to their respective institutions for more studying (and partying!). The new second years, including me, feel really excited to be going back, a little more confident in our abilities than this time last year, but slightly apprehensive at the thought of many months of hard work and new challenges coming our way. And just like a second year student, this year is the time for me to start making concrete long term career plans!
Impact of government policies: some thoughts!
Monday, September 8th, 2008Depending on the subject you teach and how advanced you are in your career, as an HE lecturer you will probably have a lot of autonomy over what it is you actually teach the students. Colleagues will have to approve your suggestions and will act to prevent erroneous or just plain bonkers material being taught, but on the whole, it’s up to you! Not so school teachers of course. But a recent government directive on the teaching of history could well impact on my own classroom experience.
The minefield of research funding
Monday, September 1st, 2008At Manchester Met we are divided into departments for teaching purposes and then we have separate research centres which include scholars from several different fields that manage our research interests. It is to them that we would apply for large portions of research funding for example, whereas our departments have small pots of money for conference expenses. My research centre has asked us academics to write a rough three-year plan describing what we hope to get done in that time: a task that is both exciting and daunting!
